Agricultural round baler

ABSTRACT

In a method for operating a round baler, the harvested crop flow is controlled at any time of the bale forming process by time control with the control and governing device of the round baler, based on a stored theoretical minimum time for pressing a harvested crop bale defined by predetermined parameters and based on actually determined harvested crop parameters, such that the harvested crop bale defined by the predetermined parameters is produced at maximum baler utilization in a nominal press time determined for the harvested crop bale.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/571,387 having a filing date of 10 Aug. 2012, the aforesaidpatent application claiming a priority date of 10 Aug. 2011, based onprior filed German patent application No. 10 2011 109 899.6, the entirecontents of the aforesaid United States patent application and theaforesaid German patent application being incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an agricultural round baler for forming roundbales of harvested crop, the round baler comprising a press chamber thatis provided with a rearward outlet for ejecting the completed round baleand with pressing devices that cause the harvested crop to rotate; aharvested crop pickup device; a cutting and/or conveying device; astorage chamber that adjoins the cutting and/or conveying device andreaches to an inlet area of the press chamber. The storage chamber, instorage phases of the pressing operation, receives and stores harvestedcrop. A control or governing device for controlling devices forinterrupting or releasing crop transfer from the storage chamber to thepress chamber is provided. A device for tying the completed round balewith tying material in the pressing chamber is provided.

The invention moreover concerns a method for controlling the flow ofharvested crop in such an agricultural round baler.

Round balers are often employed for processing stalk crop. They arecharacterized by a relatively simple configuration and minimal driveoutput in comparison to large square balers. A disadvantage is howeverthat upon processing with a round baler there is the problem that duringthe processing steps of tying and ejecting the completed bale, it is notpossible to continue to supply harvested crop material. The method iscarried out in a stepwise fashion. This means that in a first step theharvested crop, as the baler travels across the field, is picked up,shaped to a round bale, and compressed. In a second step, by stoppingthe tractor, the pickup of harvested crop is interrupted, the bale iscompressed to the final state, and then is tied with yarn or a net andejected from the press chamber. The tying process and the ejectionrequire a significant amount of time that may even reach the duration ofthe preceding bale forming step. For a long time, there have beenattempts to avoid these undesirable interruptions in operation in orderto thus increase the baler performance significantly.

In order to eliminate the disadvantages of the stepwise method, a balermust be developed which is able to continuously pick up harvested crop.In order to achieve a continuous material supply, the harvested cropmust be stored intermediately during the tying and ejecting interval. Atthe beginning of a new working cycle, within the shortest possible time,the intermediately stored material must be supplied to the press chamberwhile simultaneously newly picked-up material continues to flow. In thevarious proposals for solving this problem, two basic systems have beendeveloped.

In the “multi-chamber” basic principle, as disclosed inter alia in thepublication DE 27 04 982 A1 and DE 10 2005 020 777 A1, the main presschamber has upstream thereof a smaller pre-compression chamber in whichduring the tying process the harvested crop that is continuously beingpicked up is wound and compressed to a pre-bale. After the main presschamber has been emptied, this pre-bale is to be transferred from theantechamber into the main chamber, while simultaneously harvested cropcontinues to be supplied, in order to be completed in the main chamber.In particular the transfer of the pre-bale into the main chamber duringwhich the pre-bale should not lose its shape and compression state is inpractice very problematic and requires an extremely high constructiveexpenditure.

Continuously operating round balers operating based on the aforedescribed basic principle of at least two pressing and winding chamberstherefore have not yet surpassed the experimental stage, most likelybecause of these problems.

In the various proposals for continuous round balers that operateaccording to the “single-chamber” basic principle, the harvested cropthat is picked up upon further travel during bale formation is suppliedto a storage chamber that is positioned upstream of the press chamber. Aproblem in connection with such continuously operating bale presses, asdisclosed inter alia in EP 0 350 514 A1 and DE 199 32 336 A1, is howeverthe removal of the harvested crop that has been collected in the storagechamber. When removal from the storage chamber takes place too slowlywhile at the same time additional harvested crop is supplied as a resultof continued travel of the baler, the performance limits of the balerare reached quickly and an uninterrupted continuous operation withoutreduction of the travel speed is not possible. A further disadvantageresides in that the crops that has been pre-compressed within thestorage chamber to a limited extent after transfer into the empty presschamber will expand again and therefore desired bale densities will nobe achieved.

Continuously operating round balers according to the single-chamberbasic principle have reached marketability but, in particular because ofthe unsatisfactory performance, they have not found acceptance inpractice.

Based on this, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved continuously operating round baler that eliminate thedisadvantages of the prior art and further develops the prior artdevices in an advantageous manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved in regard tothe round baler in that the storage chamber is embodied as a flatshaping and pressing channel for the harvested crop that is beingsupplied in the storage phase of the baler operation, wherein thechannel has at least temporarily a tapering cross-section in the flowdirection of the harvested crop with a variable height at least at oneend of the channel.

In one embodiment, the channel of the storage chamber is laterallydelimited by sidewalls and is delimited in upward and downwarddirections by drivable conveyers.

In another embodiment, the storage chamber has at least oneheight-adjustable bottom conveyor that is height-adjustable at the endfacing the press chamber.

In one embodiment, in the inlet area of the press chamber, the storagechamber has correlated therewith a conveying member that, at the sametime, is embodied as a pressing element of the press chamber.

According to another embodiment, the conveying member, by means of acorrelated cover element, acts additional as a blocking device forpreventing passage of harvested crop from the storage chamber to thepress chamber.

According to one embodiment, for improving the transfer of harvestedcrop from the storage chamber to the press chamber, the conveying andblocking device is arranged to be movable in such a way that at leastphase-wise an inlet opening of the press chamber is expanded for theharvested crop.

According to another embodiment, at the beginning of the bale formingprocess, the press chamber is embodied as a starting press chamber witha volume that is reduced relative to the volume of the press chamber atthe time of bale completion.

According to another embodiment, the volume of the starting presschamber preferably corresponds to the maximum holding capacity (storagecapacity) of the storage chamber.

The control and governing device of the round baler controls at leastthe bottom conveyer that delimits the storage chamber in downwarddirection in such a way that at the beginning of the storage phase thebottom conveyor reverses its conveying direction and, in this way, theharvested crop contained in the storage chamber is combined in adirection opposite to the flow direction with the harvested crop that isadditionally supplied by the conveying and cutting device to the storagechamber.

According to another embodiment, the control and governing device, atthe latest after the combining phase of the harvested crop caused byreversal of the conveying direction, at least by reversal of the bottomconveyor, initiates an end-side displacement of the bottom conveyer sothat the storage chamber assumes a configuration that is wedge-shapedand tapers in the direction of the inlet of the press chamber that isthen increasingly filled by the conveying and cutting device withharvested crop, wherein the harvested crop as a result of the wedgeshape is subjected to pre-compression.

At a point in time that is controlled based on time and/or based ontorque and/or filling level, the tapering of the storage chamber in thedirection of the inlet of the press chamber is canceled so that withcontinuous filling a uniform pre-compression is achieved.

According to the invention, the bale press chamber has arrangeddownstream thereof a bale wrapping device and/or a bale dischargedevice.

According to the method of the present invention, the problem is solvedin that, on the basis of a saved theoretical minimum time for pressing aharvested crop bale that is defined by predetermined parameters and withconsideration of the actual determined harvested crop parameters, thecontrol and governing device of the round baler controls at any time ofthe bale forming process the flow of harvested crop in a time-wisefashion such that in the determined nominal pressing duration thepredefined bale is produced at maximum baler utilization (maximum balerperformance).

As a function of the actual bale diameter during bale growth, thecontrol and governing device of the round baler, by continuoustime-based nominal value/actual value comparison, generates and suppliesto the drive unit or the tractor vehicle a nominal value signal for thetravel speed, whereupon the travel speed is preferably automaticallycontrolled.

The continuously operating round baler according to the presentinvention has a storage chamber that is upstream of the press chamberfor storing harvested crop. The storage chamber extends across theentire width of the press chamber and is delimited in upward directionand downward direction by conveyors; the conveyors, with respect totheir conveying action on the harvested crop, have a controllableconveying speed and are also reversible with regard to the conveyingdirection. At least the bottom conveyor is also movable at its end thatis facing the press chamber with respect to height. Because of thepivoting action of at least the bottom conveyor about an axis that isproximal to the harvested crop pickup device, the storage chamber can bevariably adjusted from a wedge-shaped configuration that tapers towardthe inlet of the press chamber to at least a rectangular configurationwith parallel top and bottom conveyors.

In connection with an also height-adjustable press roller of the presschamber arranged in accordance with the invention, it is possible toobtain pre-compressed storage quantities that have been unknown up tonow while at the same time shortest possible transfer times of thestorage chamber packet into the press chamber are realized. Theheight-adjustable press roller is a component of the pressing device ofthe press chamber and is used primarily as such in its upper position.Such rollers arranged in the lower press chamber area are also knowngenerally as starter rollers because, at the beginning of a bale formingprocess, they are designed to support rotation and thus winding of theharvested crop as early as possible. In the continuous round baleraccording to the invention the starter roller however acts phase-wise inaccordance with the invention as a conveying member for transfer of theharvested crop from the storage chamber into the press chamber. Inaddition, the roller is particularly advantageously provided at itscircumference over sections thereof with a cover such that, when thebottom conveyor of the storage chamber is lowered, it closes off theinlet from the storage chamber to the press chamber at least partially.

With this particular combination, the storage chamber can be utilizedcompletely up to the inlet without there being the risk that the starterroller during the tying and ejection phase pulls the harvested crop fromthe storage chamber into the press chamber.

Only once the press chamber after completed ejection of the completedbale is at least almost completely closed again, the press roller islowered into the lower position together with the cover element that isacting as a blocking device and assists now with its preferablyparticularly non-slip surface the transfer of the storage contents intothe press chamber, with top and bottom conveyors of the storage chamberconveying simultaneously at high speed in the direction toward the presschamber. With the simultaneous end-side lowering of the bottom conveyorand of the press roller, an expanded inlet to the press chamber enablingoptimal transfer of the intermediately stored harvested crop packet isprovided.

Only with the combination according to the invention of the lowerablebottom conveyor with the press roller that can also be lowered and inthis way becomes a transfer conveyor, an especially fast but at the sametime gentle transfer of the storage chamber packet into the pressingdevice of the press chamber can be realized. With optimal adjustment ofthe speeds of the conveyors and the pressing device relative to eachother, it is thus achieved that the entire intermediately storedpre-compressed crop packet can be transferred, practically withoutdissolving or unraveling, into the pressing device; the pressing devicethen causes the bale to rotate and at the same time wraps it with thenewly received incoming harvested crop for continuing the baleformation.

Basically, it is of no consequence in this context which of the knownembodiments is acting as the pressing device. As a result of theparticularly excellent conveying action, a pressing device withrod-chain or belt-and-slat conveyors is however particularlyadvantageous.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the baler according to theinvention is provided with a semi-variable press chamber. Such aconfiguration of the press chamber of a round baler is known to a personof skill in the art with respect to almost all essential details andadvantages and is disclosed inter alia in DE 10 2004 023 696 A1, forexample. The main reason for failure of the prior attempts withcontinuous balers was the transfer of the large intermediately storedquantities of harvested crop into the press chamber. Balers withvariable press chambers are entirely unsuitable because they do not havean initial or starting press chamber that can receive the large quantityquickly. The fixed chamber balers that are then left as an alternativehave the problem that the possibly already pre-compressed harvested croppacket upon transfer into the large free space of the empty presschamber may expand again or completely dissolve or unravel. Fastoverfilling of the press chamber and unsatisfactory bale density are theresult. The afore described features of the invention already provide asolution to this problem. The use of a bale press with a semi-variablepress chamber increases even more the operative safety and providesadditional advantages.

In that, in comparison to a variable baler, such a baler is providedwith a starting press chamber that is however significantly smaller thanthe possible maximum press chamber volume, on the one hand, a quickpickup of the entire intermediately stored harvested crop is possiblebut, on the other hand, the harvested crop has no space to expand and tounravel.

With proper adjustment of the storage chamber volume and the startingchamber volume of the pressing device, an optimal bale formation withmaximum throughput is ensured.

In particular in combination with a semi-variable press chamber apre-compression as high as possible of the intermediately storedharvested crop is thus particularly advantageous because thepre-compression is maintained upon transfer into the press chamber andthe directly following bale formation. With these special features ofthe baler according to the invention it is possible, with the samestorage chamber size, to intermediately store a significantly largermaterial quantity of harvested crop or to design the storage chamber andthus the entire baler to be smaller and less expensive.

Further particularly inventive features in the course of the continuousbaler operation of the baler according to the invention provide thecondition for a significantly improved storage filling level andpre-compression.

Controlled by a control and governing device of the baler, the variousphases of the harvested crop flow are advantageously performed inaccordance with the following method.

During the normal pressing phase, the harvested crop that has beenpicked up by the pickup device is passed at least by the bottom conveyorof the storage chamber directly to the press chamber; it is optionallycut beforehand by means of a conveying and cutting device disposedbetween pickup device and storage chamber. The bottom conveyor and thepressing and conveying member (starter roller) are positioned in theupper position (normal position). After reaching the desired or maximumbale parameters with regard to diameter and density, the conveyors ofthe storage chamber are stopped and prevent thus further supply of cropinto the press chamber. The storage phase begins. Accordingly, in thepress chamber the bale tying action can be performed.

As a result of the conveying direction reversal of the storage chamberconveyors that follows now, the crop contained in the storage chamber iscombined at the inlet side of the storage chamber with the incoming cropthat is continuously supplied by the pickup device or the conveying andcutting device; in this way, net inclusions in the bale chamber (presschamber) are prevented and a pre-compression of the harvested crop isachieved already shortly behind the conveying and cutting rotor. Theconveying and cutting rotor continues to press the harvested cropfurther into the storage chamber that, for providing an excellentpre-compression, is particularly advantageously of a wedge shape thattapers toward the press chamber. The drive action of the storage chamberconveyors can be controlled as a function of various parameters and/orsensed baler conditions. In case of dry straw, for example, a furtherreversal operation for assisting the compression action is conceivablewhile in case of wet grass that is cut to short lengths, an appropriatestepped control or continuous control of the conveying action in thedirection of the press chamber is advantageous in order to avoid jammingor overloading of the conveying and cutting rotor drive.

Controlled by the same parameters, a further particularly advantageousstep of the method follows. The bottom conveyor is lowered. The storagechamber conveyors extend now parallel to each other or form a storagechamber that is slightly widened in the direction toward the presschamber. With this step, on the one hand, an undesirable furtherincrease of the pre-compression pressure in the storage chamber isavoided and, on the other hand, the storage volume is significantlyexpanded.

In a further embodiment of the invention, a control of the aforedescribed functions additionally based on the advance of the tyingprocess is conceivable with which filling of the storage chamber that istoo fast or that is insufficient is avoided. According to a furtherembodiment of the invention, for further optimization of the processsteps and thus of the optimal baler utilization, the control andgoverning device of the baler can provide a nominal value signal whichis either indicated or displayed to the driver (operator) so that thedriver/operator can react accordingly or preferably the signal isdirectly acting on the tractor control so that the travel speed of thetractor is automatically controlled/adjusted.

In the terminal phase of the storage process, the harvested crop in thefilled storage chamber is retained by the cover element of the starterroller at the inlet of the press chamber; after lowering of the bottomconveyor with simultaneous lifting of the starter roller position, thecover element is activated. As soon as the tying process has beencompleted, the bale chamber opens and the bale is ejected. Alreadyduring closing of the bale chamber, lowering of the starter rollertogether with correlated cover element occurs so that the maximumpassage from the storage chamber to the press chamber is released. Thestart signal for quickly emptying the storage chamber is given when thebale press chamber is completely closed and effects the drive action ofthe storage chamber conveyors in the direction of the bale presschamber. The conveying speed of the storage chamber conveyors is matchedsuch to the revolving speed of the pressing device that thepre-compressed harvested crop packet coming from the storage chamberwill not be pulled apart. The pre-compressed harvested crop packet isreceived, because of the optimal transfer from the storage chamber tothe press chamber, as a complete packet by the pressing device and formsthe core for the subsequent bale formation with the incoming harvestedcrop. Upon completed quick emptying of the storage chamber, the starterroller and the bottom conveyor are moved immediately into their upperpositions in order to ensure for the new pressing cycle an optimal baleformation with minimal chamber inlet opening.

In a further embodiment of the invention, an embodiment of a continuousround baler with a control and governing device is conceivable which,based on a predetermined minimal cycle time or based on a minimum cycletime computed from determined harvested crop parameters in combinationwith bale parameters that can be preset, such as bale diameter, baledensity, bale weight or type of tying, can control the entire balingcycle such that a maximum baler utilization is achieved.

The basis of the calculations in this connection are the physical limitsof pre-compression of the harvested crop. For this purpose, in severalseries of tests minimum cycle times for producing a high-quality roundbale with various kinds of harvested crop and bale parameters weredetermined and thus serve as a basis. Shorter cycle times aretechnically possible but cause deterioration of the bale density andhave thus disadvantageous effects on the bale quality and on throughputof the baler.

The control and governing device of such a round baler according to theinvention controls at any point in time of the bale forming process theentire harvested crop flow from pickup of the harvested crop up to thebale discharge position in such a way by a time-based control that inthe respective nominal pressing time a bale of the desired parameterswith maximum baler utilization is produced. When in this connection thecontrol and governing device of the round baler supplies a nominal valuesignal for the travel speed to the drive unit, in case of aself-propelled unit, or to the tractor vehicle, in case of atractor-trailer unit, whereupon the travel speed is preferablyautomatically controlled, an optimal performance and surface area outputof the continuous round baler according to the invention is achievedwith maximum driver relief.

In a further particularly advantageous embodiment of the round baleraccording to the invention, the baler is provided with a bale wrappingdevice downstream of the press chamber. The bale wrapping device iseither embodied as a trailing device or is preferably mounted on acommon carriage, as is known in the filed of balers. Accordingly, withthe round baler according to the invention, it is possible for the firsttime to press bales, wrapped them in film, and deposit them on the fieldin a continuous manner and in a single working step.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a continuously operating round baleraccording to the invention in an operating position that represents thenormal pressing (baling) operation.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the round baler of FIG. 1 in anoperating position that represents the initial phase of the storageoperation wherein the bottom conveyor is in an upper position.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the round baler of FIG. 1 in anoperating position that represents a further phase of the storageoperation wherein the bottom conveyor is in a lowered position.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the round baler of FIG. 1 in anoperating position that shows the storage operation in the end phase.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of the round baler of FIG. 1 in anoperating position that represents the quick emptying action of thestorage chamber with lowered starter roller.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The FIGS. 1 to 5 show the same embodiment of a continuously operatinground baler 1 in different operating phases. The round baler 1 of theillustrated embodiment is advantageously provided with a directlyattached bale wrapping device 2 for wrapping the round bales 4 receivedfrom the bale press chamber 3 with film and subsequent depositing of thebales 4 on the field. Both units are supported on a common carriage 6that is connectable by shaft 5 with a tractor, in particular with anagricultural tractor, and is supported by wheels 7 on the ground. Thedrive action of the entire machine combination is realized by means of adrive shaft 8 to be coupled to the tractor; the drive energy of thedrive shaft 8 is distributed or branched for driving the on-boardhydraulic system 9, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, themechanically driven components.

The continuously operating round baler 1 of the illustrated embodimentis designed as a collecting baler and has at the leading end a harvestedcrop pickup device 10, referred to as pickup for short, for picking upthe harvested crop that is usually lying in swaths on the ground.Downstream thereof, in the flow direction of the harvested crop viewedin a direction opposite to the travel direction F, a conveying andcutting device 11 is provided that receives the harvested crop from thepickup 10 and conveys it further by means of intake rotor 12;optionally, the harvested crop is at the same time cut by switchablesets of cutting knives 13. Along the further path of the harvested crop,between the conveying and cutting device 11 and the bale press chamber3, a storage chamber 14 is arranged which either intermediately storesthe harvested crop received from the conveying and cutting device 11 orpasses the harvested crop into the press chamber 3.

The storage chamber is delimited laterally by sidewalls and in theupward and downward directions by conveyors 15, 16 extending across theentire length of the storage chamber and defining a channel. Theconveyors 15, 16 are preferably embodied as belt conveyors withfollowers, as in the illustrated embodiment, or are configured asrod-chain conveyors or belt-and-slat conveyors. Embodiments withconveying rollers are also conceivable. The lower bottom conveyor 15 ispivotably supported at its leading end near the conveying and cuttingdevice 11 in such a way that by height adjustment of the bottom conveyor15 at the rear end, in the flow direction of the harvested crop, thestorage chamber 14 can be changed with regard to its shape. FIGS. 1 and2 show the bottom conveyor 15 in the upwardly displaced position so thata configuration of the storage chamber 14 which tapers in a wedge shapein the flow direction of the harvested crop is effected. In the lowerposition of the bottom conveyor 15, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5, thebottom conveyor 15 and the upper top conveyor 16 of the storage chamber14 extend at least parallel relative to each other or in such a way thatthe storage chamber 14 widens slightly at the end that is facing thepress chamber 3.

In a further embodiment, the change of the storage chamber shape can berealized also by an additional adjusting possibility of the upperconveyor 16 but this requires disadvantageously an additionalconstructive expenditure and incurs extra costs.

In the direction of flow of the harvested crop downstream of the storagechamber, the bale press chamber 3 of the round baler 1 is arranged. Inthe round baler 1 of the illustrated embodiment, the press chamber 3 isdesigned advantageously as a semi-variable press chamber 3. In contrastto a completely variable press chamber, this press chamber 3 has aninitial press chamber, i.e., a starting press chamber 17, and the baleroperates according to the system of a fixed chamber baler up to thediameter of this starting press chamber 17. Upon further supply ofharvested crop, the pressing device 18 expands according to the systemof a variable press chamber in outward direction and enables in this waythe formation of bales of variable sizes that surpass the diameter ofthe starting press chamber 17. As an additional element correlated withthe press chamber 3 in the lower area of the press chamber 3 a roller isarranged which, generally known in the art, is referred to as starterroller 19. According to the invention, the starter roller however alsotakes over tasks as a conveying member 19 and is therefore also referredto, at least at times, as conveying member. The starter roller 19 isarranged such that it forms the lower boundary of the harvested cropinlet 20 of the press chamber 3 relative to the storage chamber 14. Itis new and particularly advantageous in connection with the starterroller 19 of the round baler 1 of the illustrated embodiment that, onthe one hand, there is the possibility of height adjustment of theroller 19 so that the inlet 20 can be expanded or tightened and, on theother hand, a cover element 21 correlated with the starter roller 19 isprovided that covers the roller 19 at its circumference in the area thatis facing the storage chamber 14.

For a fast but gentle transfer of the round bales 4 from the presschamber 3 to the bale wrapping device 2, the round baler 1 is providedwith a pivotable transfer device 22 which is arranged expediently andconfigured expediently such that in none of the operating positions itis at risk of colliding with other movable machine parts of the baler.Moreover, the transfer device 22 is driven such that after completedbale transfer it immediately assumes its upper initial position and inthis way serves as a collecting depression for possible crumbledmaterial and for harvested crop already passing into the press chamber,wherein the pressing device 18 of the press chamber 3 that is closing atthe same time strips off this material and moves it into the presschamber 3 thus eliminating loss.

The interaction of all components of the round baler 1 according to theinvention, controlled by a control and governing device of the roundbaler 1, will be explained in more detail with the aid of a press cycleillustrated in various phases in FIGS. 1 to 5.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a continuously operating roundbaler 1 according to the invention in an operating position thatrepresents the normal pressing or baling operation. The picked-upharvested crop is directly passed through the storage chamber 14 intothe press chamber 3. At least the lower, and advantageously both,conveyors 15, 16 of the storage chamber 14 operate in the conveyingdirection toward the press chamber 3. The lower conveyor (bottomconveyor) 15 and the starter roller 19 are in the upper position. In thepress chamber 3, the bale 4 is pressed continuously by continued windingto the desired or given size.

FIG. 2 shows the round baler 1 in the next operating position whichrepresents the initial phase of the storage operation. The pressed bale4 has reached a predetermined size and density. The net for tying thebale 4 is injected into the bale chamber 3. In order to avoid harvestedcrop inclusions between the net layers, the conveyors 15, 16 stopfurther supply of harvested crop into the press chamber 3. Depending onthe parameters, the drive action is briefly stopped for this purpose andthen reversed, or the drive action is immediately reversed. Theirconveying action opposite to the flow of harvested crop in the directiontoward the conveying and cutting device 11 causes the harvested cropthat is already in the storage chamber 14 to be combined with theharvested crop that is continuously conveyed by the conveying andcutting device 11 into the storage chamber 14. Accordingly, asignificant pre-compression is achieved. The harvested crop that iscontinuously conveyed into the storage chamber 14 is pressed underpressure in the direction of the press chamber 3 wherein, due to theadvantageous wedge-shaped configuration of the storage chamber 14, it isadditionally compressed and in this way is caused to hold together. Thestorage chamber conveyors 15, 16 assist in this action, in particular asa function of the predetermined and detected harvested crop parameterswith respect to the crop compressibility. This has the result that theyare driven stepwise or continuously in the flow direction of theharvested crop, but also opposite to the flow direction of the harvestedcrop, or are not driven at all. The bottom conveyor 15 and the starterroller 19 are still in the upper positions during this phase.

FIG. 3 shows the next phase of the storage process. At a point in timethat is determined by the control and governing device and/or by balerconditions that are detected by sensors, the bottom conveyor 15 is movedinto the lower position. The storage volume is significantly increasedin this way and overload by a pre-compression that is too high isavoided and the continued storage operation is ensured. The storagechamber conveyors 15, 16 are controlled further as described before.

FIG. 4 shows the storage process in its end phase. The tying process inthe press chamber 3 is completed. The bale press chamber 3 isautomatically opened and the bale 4 ejected. Directly after leaving thepress chamber 3, the round bale 4 is received gently by the transferdevice 22 and in a controlled fashion is transferred farther to the balewrapping device 2 for positioning on the wrapping table 23. Withproperly selected spacings and height differences this transfer isrealized in an operationally very safe way simply by the weight force ofthe bale 4. The storage chamber 14 is now completely filled up to theinlet 20 of the pressing chamber 3 by optimal adjustment of theprocessing sequences. The starter roller 19 that is still in the upperposition delimits the inlet 20 to a minimum and, at the same time,retains the harvested crop which is stored in the storage chamber 14 bymeans of the cover element 21 correlated with the starter roller 19.

FIG. 5 represents the round baler 1 in an operating position during thephase of emptying the storage chamber. Already during bale transfer, assoon as the bale 4 is in a position in which collision with the balepress chamber 3 as it is being closed is impossible, the chamber 3 willclose again. Already during the closing process, the starter roller 19is transferred with the correlated cover element 21 into the lowerposition. With this displacement of the starter roller 19, the inletopening 20 of the bale press chamber 3 expands at least to the completecross-section of the storage chamber 14 that has been expanded at itsend that is nearest the press chamber 3 by means of the downwardly movedbottom conveyor 15. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the starter roller 19 thathas been moved downwardly forms together with the bottom conveyor 15 ofthe storage chamber 14 that has also been moved downwardly and togetherwith the pressing device 18 of the press chamber 3, closed in themeantime, that is immediately adjacent to the starter roller 19 anoptimal conveying stretch for unhindered transfer, as fast as possible,of the intermediately stored harvested crop packet 24 from the storagechamber 14 into the press chamber 3. The starter roller 19 becomes theconveying member 19 in this phase. By lowering the starter 19, the areaof the starter roller 19 that, by means of the cover element 21functions as a blocking device for the storage chamber 14, is no longerpositioned in the flow of the harvested crop and is thus without anyeffect. For a transfer of the harvested crop packet 24 as fast aspossible and as continuous as possible, the bottom conveyor 15 and thetop conveyor 16 of the storage chamber 14 are adjusted in such a way tothe conveying/revolving speed of the pressing device 18 and of thestarter roller 19 that the intermediately stored harvested crop ispushed by the conveyors 15, 16 as a packet 24 into the press chamber 3.Here it is received by the pressing device 18, immediately caused torotate and then used as a bale core for the subsequently suppliedharvested crop for continuing the bale formation. In FIG. 5 it isapparent how advantageous the use of a round baler 1 with semi-variablebale chamber 3 is. The harvested crop packet 24 that is transferred fromthe storage chamber 14 into the chamber 3, whose volume is matchedprecisely to the storage volume, has no opportunity to expand and todissolve or unravel. After transfer of the pre-compressed contiguousharvested crop packet 24 into the starting chamber 17 of the pressingdevice 18, the pressing device 18 is already filled and can expand onlywith additional compression acting onto the harvested crop.

Immediately after emptying of the storage chamber 14 the bottom conveyor15 and the starter roller 19 are displaced into their upper normalposition, as illustrated in FIG. 1. A new bale forming cycle begins. Atthe same time, the round bale that has already been produced beforehandis wrapped on the wrapping table 23 of the wrapping device 2 with filmand is deposited on the field in due time before completion of the nextbale. Operation of the round baler 1 provided with a bale wrappingdevice 2 purely by pressing operation, i.e., without wrapping of thebale in film, is of course possible also.

Even though the invention has been explained with the aid of anembodiment of a round baler 1 with semi-variable press chamber 3 anddownstream bale wrapping device 2, the invention is usable in the sameway or in a modified way by modifications within the knowledge of aperson of skill in the art also in connection with round balers withother press chambers and also without bale wrapping device.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the inventive principles, it will beunderstood that the invention may be embodied otherwise withoutdeparting from such principles.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling flow of harvested cropin an agricultural round baler for forming a round bale of harvestedcrop, the round baler comprising a press chamber having an inlet and arear outlet for ejecting a completed round bale; a pressing devicedisposed in the press chamber and adapted to rotate the harvested crop;a harvested crop pickup device; a conveying and cutting devicedownstream of the pickup device; a storage chamber arranged downstreamof the conveying and cutting device and extending to the inlet of thepress chamber, wherein the storage chamber receives harvested crop in astorage phase of the baler operation of the round baler; an elementadapted to interrupt or release a flow of harvested crop from thestorage chamber to the press chamber; a control and governing deviceacting on the element; a tying device that ties a completed round balewith a tying material in the press chamber, wherein the storage chamberis a flat shaping and pressing channel for the harvested crop conveyedin the storage phase of the baler operation into the storage chamber,wherein the channel has at least temporarily a tapering cross-sectionthat tapers in a flow direction of the harvested crop from the conveyingand cutting device to the press chamber, wherein the channel has atleast one end that is height-adjustable; the method comprising the stepof: controlling by time control with the control and governing device ofthe round baler, based on a stored theoretical minimum time for pressinga harvested crop bale defined by predetermined parameters and based onactually determined harvested crop parameters, a harvested crop flow atany time of the bale forming process of the round baler such that theharvested crop bale defined by the predetermined parameters is producedat maximum baler utilization in a nominal press time determined for saidharvested crop bale.
 2. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising the steps of: continuously comparing temporally in thecontrol and governing device a nominal value and an actual value of atravel speed of the round baler as a function of an actual bale diameterduring bale growth and generating a nominal value signal of the travelspeed; providing the nominal value signal to a drive unit or a tractorof the round baler.
 3. The method according to claim 2, furthercomprising the step of automatically controlling the travel speed of thedrive unit or the tractor based on the nominal value signal.